It is improbable that you own a gold coin larger than the one recently produced in Australia. This particular golden round weighs 2,231 pounds. It measures 31 inches in diameter and is 4.7 inches thick. The coin is certified to be 99.99 percent pure gold. I that understand Australia has no plans to place the “Gold Kangaroo” in circulation since it is likely that only attorneys and well-heeled potentates could “make change” for such currency.

The film industry lists Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1908) as the first horror movie produced. It was rumored that one of my grade- school gym teachers obtained a role in the movie largely because he required no makeup – probably untrue.

A contemporary survey has revealed that seven out of 100 Americans claim that at least five years have elapsed since their last bath or shower. I do declare that I often manage to sit by one of the special seven whenever I ride public transportation.

It seems like an obvious idea, but it was only recently that engineers from the University of Wisconsin developed directional solar panels that use a portion of the generated electricity to change surface angles in order to continuously (during daylight hours) be directed towards the sun, much as sunflowers have done for millennia.

It was about 5,000 years ago when metal workers in ancient Syria (some claim the episode occurred in what is now Turkey) heated tin ore with some copper ore and created the first bronze alloy. This event is recognized as one of the major milestones in technology and civilization - ranking ahead of Rap “Music” and pizza.

Mars is orbited by two moons - Deimos and Phobos. Both were discovered by Asaph Hall in 1877. Under the “sort of strange” heading, I might add that authors Jonathan Swift (1726) and No-First-Name Voltaire (1750) mentioned the moons of Mars decades prior to the actual discoveries.

New inventions that retail for $170 can be mounted on the ceilings of garages and are programmed to sound alerts and flash lights whenever approaching objects are so high that they will collide with the ceiling (or door). The target customers are those who drive tall pickups or SUV’s with racks, etc. Have a great week.